Slashdot Mirror
Hong Kong Politician Bejeweled, Unrepentant
Thanks to GamersWithJobs for its story revealing the Hong Kong Education Secretary was recently caught playing a puzzle game on his PDA during a 'lengthy legislative meeting.' According to the original story in the Straits Times, he was spotted playing games by "student representatives, who were seated one row behind the education chief." In addition, GamersWithJobs is delighted to note: "Being the gamer that he is, [Professor Li] even refused to apologize for playing Bejeweled on his PDA, as 'no constructive opinions' were voiced in the debate."
Also, he could have really liked smoking marijuana. Admitting to smoking it and not admitting to enjoying it can be lying all the same. By sending the message that pot isn't fun, you also alienate youth (i.e. they're not 'supposed' to like it but they do). The message you really need to send to kids is that for most people, pot is fun and presents no immediate danger, but it is folly to think that it is altogether harmless. It's true dangers lie in regular usage over time, which can completely cripple one's spirit.
Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
That's quite true on both counts. Still, a little more honesty would be nice :)
I suppose you can't have it, though. I don't think anybody should do drugs, but I don't hold it against anybody who does. You own your body, you should be able to smoke, sniff, or shoot up anything you like. Heck, if I had it my way, you'd be able to walk into Eckerd's and buy crack. However, I am in a small, small minority, and the vast majority of Americans don't see it my way. If Bush had come out and said "yeah I snorted coke, and it was a really dumb idea" or Clinton had said "Oh man, pot is awesome!" their chances for election would have been zilch.
However, I think it's also very telling. Both Clinton and Bush are for the war on drugs. At least, neither of them ever did a damn thing to put a stop to it. However, both were obvious drug users. Gore admited smoking pot. The current crop of candidates include many users. Yet, they all support the idea that people who do the same thing they did should be thrown in jail. I really wish that during the last election, somebody had asked Gore and Bush during a debate, "would you have been better off today, or worse off today, if you had spent time in jail as a twenty-something for your 'youthful indescretions' with regards to drug use?"
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
Why should they be against it? Putting a stop to it would reduce the value of their crops in columbia. And it would probably reduce crime overall. Besides that, although they aren't immune to scandal, they personally ARE immune to the war on drugs ;)
...the students told on him. Personally, I've been through enough painfully boring lessons that I would never turn someone in for skipping the FUD.
For the love of God, please learn to spell "ridiculous"!!!
We should keep in mind that this story isn't about our politicians. He's from Hong Kong, not Norway or the U.S.
Also, I'm not sure how it works in Hong Kong, but in the U.S., the Secretary of Education isn't an elected position and wouldn't have a vote on any sort of legislation.